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A Phenomenological Study of Depression in Iran

  • Book
  • © 2023

Overview

Authors:
  1. Moujan Mirdamadi

    1. Prague, Czech Republic

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  • Situates depression experiences within a cultural context to explain cultural variation in depression
  • Argues that cultural shaping of depression challenges the universality of psychiatric tools and diagnostic criteria
  • A phenomenological outlook and method aid an interdisciplinary approach to understanding mental disorders

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Table of contents (9 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-ix
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  2. Introduction

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 1-11

  3. The Iranian Context

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 13-37

  4. Metaphors of Depression

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 39-60

  5. Death-Consciousness and Absurdity

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 61-85

  6. Interpersonal Relationships I: Impersonal Interpersonal

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 87-104

  7. Interpersonal Relationships II: Personal Interpersonal

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 105-126

  8. The Body in Depression

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 127-148

  9. Culture, Experiences and Narratives, and the Problem of Interpretation

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 149-165

  10. Concluding Remarks

    • Moujan Mirdamadi
    Pages 167-183

  11. Back Matter

    Pages 185-200
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Keywords

About this book

This book is an investigation into cultural variations in experiences of depression. Examining first-person accounts of depressed persons in Iran alongside similar previously studied data from the UK, the book highlights the cultural shaping at the heart of variations in experiences, manifestations, and articulations of depression. The analyses presented appeal to some of the longstanding pillars of Iranian culture, such as folk theories and literature, as well as the dominant social influences, like the Iran-Iraq war and the Islamic revolution. A central claim made, therefore, is that contrary to the universalising approaches in psychiatry, a better understanding of the workings of mental illness is achieved by situating individuals and their experience in a meaning-making sociocultural context.

Reviews

“This is ethno-psychiatry at its very best. Using her knowledge of two cultures, Mirdamadi provides us with a compelling and rigorously supported proof of the way culture is inextricably baked into the sensory and affective experiences associated with depression. The incompleteness of mono-cultural understanding of such diagnostic entities is demonstrated with reference to the history, language and culture of Iran, together with new empirical data, and phenomenological analysis. To explain the integrated whole by which depressive symptoms occur within their subject’s life-world and embodied experience, the paucity of references to ‘culture-bound syndromes’ and ‘idioms of distress’ is also shown. To say this is an important book, would be an understatement; but it must also be added that it is an entirely fascinating and enjoyable one.” (Jennifer Radden)

Authors and Affiliations

  • Prague, Czech Republic

    Moujan Mirdamadi

About the author

Moujan Mirdamadi is a scholar of philosophy and phenomenology. Her research interests include phenomenological psychopathology, philosophy of psychiatry, narratives, culture, and affectivity

Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: A Phenomenological Study of Depression in Iran

  • Authors: Moujan Mirdamadi

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30407-1

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham

  • eBook Packages: Religion and Philosophy, Philosophy and Religion (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-031-30406-4Published: 09 August 2023

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-3-031-30409-5Due: 09 September 2023

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-30407-1Published: 08 August 2023

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: IX, 200

  • Number of Illustrations: 2 b/w illustrations

  • Topics: Phenomenology, Philosophy of Mind

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